Isaiah sighed as he was put into his own room thanks to rank alone. Try as he might he couldn't help but feel a little isolated by the fact. He knew full well his sudden promotion wouldn't sit well with some, thus it wasn't abnormal to suspect a few would be annoyed by this additional special treatment as well. "Whatever....I'll just prove my worth later." Isaiah slid his newly acquired key card into the slot as the door clicked open. As the door shut, Isaiah reached for the light switch, flicking it with his index finger. The dull grey room illuminated instantly, showcasing its rather scantily decorated design. Two beds, two desks, two dressers, one inhabitant. "Guess they hadn't planned for solo occupants." Isaiah thought to himself as he set his duffel bags down in the corner.

"Right....well let's get started." The sergeant groaned as he slid one of the beds across the room, connecting it with the other to form one large bed. Next up was the desks. One he reserved for any paperwork he'd have to fill out, the other would just have to take up space for now. After stuffing his clothes into one of the dressers Isaiah pulled a couple of sexy posters featuring scantily clad women from his bag, pinning them up around the room. "There....just like home."

Isaiah then noted two doors. One led to the small bathroom. Not much to say about it really. Shower, sink, toilet, all the necessities were there at least. The other, Isaiah suspected was a closet. Much to his surprise however, it was a hallway. The young sergeant poked his head out slowly, noting the adjacent door with a 3 on it. "That must be Slavik and Galia's room. But then where does this lead?" Isaiah stepped into the hall, poking his head through the new door to find a group lounge. A few sofas, a television, fridge, kitchen. Everything they needed to keep themselves entertained. "Well, at least we have something to keep ourselves occupied." Figuring the others would show up later, Isaiah fell onto one of the sofas, flicking the television to one of the entertainment channels as he did. Dispite his formal military nature, even Isaiah enjoyed a good laugh before bed.

Sharline stood idly as the group disbanded, the recruits to their dorms and Caldwell around the corner. Let's see...what else is there today. She ran through the schedule in her head. There was going to be a performance review of Epsilon's first day with the higher-ups, but that wasn't until five. The brunette checked the bulky watch on her wrist. 4:30...

She killed ten minutes walking to one of the vending machines near the cafeteria. The stark, metallic machine offered a large selection of beverages. Green tea...black tea...hot coffee...iced coffee...café au lait. Sharline pressed the button as she registered the words. A paper cup was dispensed and filled with the milky brown beverage. She checked her watch again. Ugh. Better get to the meeting.

The performance review went by slowly. One by one, people in nondescript business attire stood up and gave first impressions of their respective units. The minute hand of the chrome clock on the wall ticked by, then gradually the hour hand. I swear that clock is slow. Sharline glanced down at her wristwatch when the meeting was called to an end. 7:10.

The hallway outside the group's barracks was empty of people and luggage when she rounded the corner. Getting settled in, I see. It would probably be a good idea to talk a bit more with Sgt. Cole. Sharline knocked modestly on Room 4. “Sgt. Cole?” her voice met with silence. She waited, then knocked again. “Hello, Sgt. Cole? This is Sharline McGovern.” No answer. He's not in? She remembered the master key in her pocket. The door clicked open as she swiped the card through the reader.

Sharline peeked her head into the room. It was certainly vacant. The man had pushed the two twin beds together to form one king-size bed. Crafty guy. Sharline entered, glancing around the dorm. Her eye caught on the wall, where the image of a sultry woman with unnaturally large breasts met her gaze. –I'd like to retract that statement.

As she continued through the dorm and into the back hallway, the analyst could hear the sound of the TV playing in the living room. She emerged in the doorway, finally seeing the twenty-something man lying in disarray on the sofa. So slovenly. Sharline couldn't help snickering. "Looking sharp, Sergeant. Getting settled into Celsius?"

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

Isaiah jerked slightly as the unexpected voice of a woman entered his ears. The young sergeant sat up, staring blankly at the analyst for a moment. What was her name again? He'd been paying so much attention to the tour, the arrival of a five star general, and his promotion to remember the young lady's name at the moment. "Oh.....I'm doing alright." He paused awkwardly for a moment. "Just how did you get in here anyway?" It didn't take long after the words left him that Isaiah came to the realization that Sharline must have come through one of their rooms, and since Galia and Slavik were nowhere to be found, that could only mean one thing. "....So......see anything you liked in there?"

Sharline kept her expression mild, even though the man had obviously forgotten her name. Thanks, buddy. Any irritation, however, was quashed by the sergeant's unsure, even awkward behavior. She hadn't expected him to be so unaffected. His second question made her laugh. At least he has a sense of humor. “Well...” Sharline wanted to return the banter. “I can't say three hundred CCs of silicone are my thing, but she seems happy with them.”

The analyst glanced around the room. No one else is here? Huh. She thought the others would've explored the compound by now. As Sharline sat down on one of the cream-colored sofas, she could acutely feel her feet. Ow. Note to self, wear flats tomorrow. She looked up at the TV screen as she slipped a hand between her foot and the shoe. A raunchy comedian was quipping about several viral videos to a particularly raucous audience. I love this guy. Sharline smiled as she rubbed her sole.

“By the way, I'm Sharline. I'm going to be your group's field analyst...” her voice trailed off. Would he know what that was? “–Basically, observing how you use the SIRENs. Your behaviors, instincts...et cetera.”

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

Slavik remained silent as he began to unpack his clothing, they reflected his social status or rather the consensus most would have of the average Cernovian resistance force; workers clothing, smudged yet durable wear that showed no signs of personalizations, no logos or advertising signs anywhere. He also pulled out a strange medical kit.

All the while the man did not say a word as he began putting his clothing away, there was very little that Slavik did in fact. There were no pictures of family, no memoirs, no books or items that showed that he was an individual. Yet there was something that might've caught his room-mate's attention; Slavik did not keep his back towards him, each opportunity he had, the man kept a wary eye out for possible attacks. Whether or not it was out of paranoia or force of habit was unknown.

Isaiah's eyebrow rose when Sharline mentioned the fact that she would be joining them as a member of the team. He understood full well what a field analyst was; a hassle. Granted she could probably handle a SIREN better than any of them but he was skeptical of bringing someone who'd never been in actual combat along with them and it showed. "So....basically,.......you're our shepard, and we're your babysitters." The young sergeant was certainly blunt about it. ".......You ever been in combat, Sharline? Real combat, that is. Not a paintball fight in an air conditioned oversized basement but genuine life or death war or can I just assume you've never left the capital and that I shouldn't expect much out of you?"

Sharline's genuine smile sent a wash of relief through Melani, and the medic rewarded the civvie with a bright smile of her own and a cheery reply as she gathered her absurd amount of luggage and headed for her new room. "Thank you, Miss McGovern!"

* * *

~ Barracks Common Area ~

It took far longer than she'd first thought to get her things unpacked, but that might have been because she sneaked in a shower as soon as she had her unmentionables and civilian clothes unpacked. This, of course, meant that her hair got wet, and likewise meant that it became even more unruly as it dried while she finished her unpacking.

But, finally, it was done, and she peeked her head out the door she'd come in. Finding the hallway empty and eerily quiet, she tried the other door. Hearing Sharline and Isaiah's voices (although not intelligibly), she brightened and headed down the private hallway, her flip-flops making slapping sounds because of her quick gait.

"Hi!" she called as she came through the door into the kitchenette with a sunny smile. She looked completely un-military-like now, having changed into khaki shorts and an olive green camisole top that wasn't really ideal for her freckle-specked skin tone. "Sorry it took me so long, but I had a lot of stuff to unpack, haha!"

Sharline's brow arched. Strange question. "No, I haven't. I'm not in the military," the statement was flat. She hooked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Although," the young woman's tone was thoughtful as she looked up to the ceiling. "S-DAT did do a basic combat course back in closed testing. I know some combat essentials."

Sharline suddenly realized Isaiah's intent. "Oh, wait," she interjected. Ever the military man. "I get you. Sgt. Cole, Epsilon's objective is simply semi-closed field testing. Like gathering logistics, practice scenarios..." she ran through the agenda in her head. "We won't be going into combat situations. Well, not real ones." Heh, thank God. She smirked. "You're right – if Epsilon transitions into a task force, I would probably be replaced with someone else."

The somber mood was interrupted as Melani burst into the room. The girl's chipperness was a jolt after Isaiah's hardened demeanor. "Hi–" Sharline hesitated. "Ms. Engleton." Ugh. "Yeah, you sure had a lot of suitcases, huh?"

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

"Hmph.....fair enough." Isaiah muttered as Melani burst into the room. The young sergeant felt his stomach churn slightly as the woman's giddiness spread through the room. That said he did notice that the young woman had changed into more casual clothing. ".....Corporal." He stated in his ever formal tone. "If the two of you will excuse me, I think I'll go change as well." The gunman nodded to the two women as he rose from his seat, making his way back towards his room. Upon entering, Isaiah's eyes skirted across the room, making sure Sharline hadn't touched anything during her passing through. Satisfied, he made his way over to his dresser to change.

After roughly five minutes, Isaiah returned to the lobby room, now clad in a black tank top, black gym shorts, and with only a pair of white socks separating his feet from the floor. "That's better. Nice to cut loose every once in awhile." As he spoke Isaiah made his way over to the fridge, popping it open before checking inside. Beer, juice, milk, water, some sports drink named after a reptile. "You two want a beer?" He asked, peeking over the door of the fridge. As it turns out the question was rhetorical as Isaiah returned to the couch with three beers in hand, plopping two of the unopened bottles on the coffee table in front of the analyst and corporal. "Here's to us. A few poor schmucks the military decided were good for something." Isaiah let out a rare smile before removing the lid from the bottle and tipping it towards the sky. The young sergeant smacked his lips a bit as the bitter taste of hops lingered on his tongue.

"Ehehe, yeah. I wasn't really sure what I'd need, and, well...You know what they say, better safe than sorry, right?" she offered, her smile tinged with embarrassment as she scratched at the back of her neck and cast her eyes to the floor. She recovered quickly, though, as Isaiah made his hasty exit. She looked back up to Sharline as she moved to plunk herself down on the couch, her hands coming to rest on her knees, fingers drumming there in a small display of agitation. "Melani's okay, if you want. I'm not really all that formal. But, if you prefer the whole last name thing, that's okay, too!"

She tensed a little when Isaiah reentered, but he seemed more relaxed, which blunted the edge of her ever-present nervousness just a touch. She seemed to relax even more when he set the beer bottles on the coffee table. She leaned against the back of the couch and lifted her backside off of the seat so she could dig in the right pocket of her shorts, coming up with a small multitool. As she reached for her beer, she flipped the tool open with a an ease that comes from heavy practice and familiarity, popping the top off and smiling at the hiss of visible carbon dioxide that snaked out of the bottle.

"To us! We'll show them that they chose wisely!" she added to Isaiah's toast as she raised her bottle, then took a sip. She made a comical face that was almost a grimace, and set her bottle back down on the table. "I need a glass. You want one, too?" she asked, tilting her head to Sharline. It was obvious that Isiah was enjoying his beverage without the degassing effect that a good pour gave, but Sharline hadn't drunk yet, and she might enjoy a lighter-bodied drink like Melani.

Sharline's gaze lingered on Melani as the blonde spoke. Her expressions and gesticulations were distinctly colorful. She's so excitable...or nervous? Either way, Sharline found the corporal interesting. The analyst felt a flash of relief when Melani brought up her given name.

"Heh, you read my mind," Sharline chuckled. "The last-name basis is a little stuffy. Everyone used first names in S-DAT–" she paused. "That is, SIREN Development and Testing. It was the prosthetics research unit before Epsilon." Explaining Celsius' history felt weird. The lass wasn't used to being around people who were unfamiliar with the company. "By the way, 'Sharline' is okay for me, too."

The girls' conversation was interrupted when Isaiah came back. Sharline shifted in her seat when the man set the beer bottles on the table. Yugh. As she was about to get up, Melani rose and offered to get her a glass from the kitchenette. She remembered the fruit juice in the refrigerator. Orange-pineapple. "Oh, um, sure. Can you make it a juice, Melani?" as she said the name, Sharline felt it exude newly-acquired familiarity. Wonder what Sarge over there will think of that. She tried to fight a smile.

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

"Yeah, no problem!" she chirped happily to Sharline as she hopped up from the couch. The way the other woman treated her did loads to help put her at ease, and her sunny demeanor was becoming more relaxed and less forced by the moment. She bounded to the kitchen area with all the vim and vigor of the teenager she looked like, and procured herself a glass before pulling the fridge open, scanning it for a moment before locating the juice. "Ah-HA! There you are!"

She snagged the juice and turned to close the icebox with her hip before walking back at a much slower pace, as though she were afraid that she might trip and shatter something, and handed the pretty scientist her juice.

"Here you go, Sharline." There was a touch of country in her accent as she said Sharline's name. She pronounced it shar-LEEN, with maybe a touch too much emphasis on the second syllable. She dropped back into her seat after giving the juice over and scooped up her beer bottle.

"Question, if I may. How do you feel about nicknames?" she asked as she tilted her glass at a 45 degree angle and then tilted her bottle to pour gently and slowly. When the glass was about half-full, she began to tilt both until the glass was upright and the beer poured more vigorously, giving it a perfect amount of frothy head.

She glanced at Isaiah as she set the bottle down and took the first sip of her newly poured beer without making the same disgruntled face she'd made before, a hint of apprehension entering her eyes, as though she were half-afraid he might scold her for impropriety in making friends with Sharline so quickly.

Isaiah observed the two women's interaction lazily. There wasn't anything special about them calling eachother by their first names, thus he showed little interest in the two. What he did take interest in though was the unclaimed bottle of beer now sitting in front of Sharline. "If she's not going to drink it then I might as well." The young sergeant burped as he finished his first bottle, tapping his chest lightly as he did. "Excuse me." He muttered out of habit before picking up Sharline's beer and removing the bottle cap.

The young soldier swirled the bottle slightly before tipping it to the sky once more. About that time, Melani piped in with her question about nicknames. While he knew the question was directed at Sharline, Isaiah couldn't help but jump in. "Nicknames are good. Brings everyone closer I'd say." Despite his usually formal attitude, this was one thing Isaiah could be lenient about. "So.....what do we call you then, Engleton?" He asked, catching the woman in her glance towards him. "Doc?"

Waiting for the room assignments, ZZ looked around the room at everyone quietly. She stood in the back near Ren as they were being told what was going down. She glanced at her roomie, Ren when their names were called. She nodded back at Ren when she gave hers before heading towards their room. Grabbing her stuff from outside the door, she headed in and picked the bed on the right. She started to unpack her clothing and throwing them into dressers, not caring much what was going in there. After she finished packing her clothing, she grabbed the last thing out of her bag, fifth of vodka and a shot glass. Setting the shot glass down on her night table, ZZ poured some vodka into the shot glass and took it. Sighing in relief as she gulped it down, she set the shot glass on the table again, and capped the vodka. She opened the drawer, and placed both items in, closing it before going to her dresser.

ZZ pulled out some fresh pair of clothing and started taking off her top. She threw on a tank top with a band name brand across it. Taking off her pants, she grabbed a pair of fitted jeans and put them on. Looking at herself in a mirror, she took down her hair that was clipped up and brushed it out. Running her fingers through her hair, she grasped it tightly before exhaling heavily and going back to the night table drawer and grabbing the vodka and shot glass again. After the second shot, ZZ felt better and put away her stuff and slipping on a pair of flip flops before going out into the hallway and heading towards the common area.

Walking through the door, she headed into the kitchen and towards the fridge, grabbing a beer. She then turned around, a little too fast for her liking, and caught herself before stumbling. She looked around the kitchen for some food, needed to put something in before drinking anything more. Glancing at the counter, she saw a couple of power bars lying around. Grabbing one of them, she began to chow down on one of them, the buzz getting to her head slightly after she hadn’t eaten all day. Best way to start off her night though. After finishing that off, she threw away the wrapper and opened the beer, taking a long sip from it before walking over to the rest of the group. Sharline, Melani, and Isaiah seemed to be relaxing nicely. She sat down on of the couches and took another drink. “Hey.” She said quietly, after gulping down, the carbonation feeling fantastic on her tongue. Using her free hand, ZZ rubbed her eyes, bloodshot from exhaustion and lack of sleep. "What's going on?" She asked, drinking another sip of beer.

Sharline had removed her heels and was reclining against the sofa when Melani brought the bottle of juice. "Thanks," the slightly older girl smiled. She cracked open the plastic cap and took a swig. Mm. As Melani and Isaiah began to talk about nicknames, ZZ entered from across the room. From Sharline's peripheral, it seemed like ZZ was stumbling around the kitchenette. Sharline tried to get a better look, craning her neck forward from the cushions. Is she...drunk?

Sharline kept her observations silent as ZZ approached, sitting down on one of the four sofas. The analyst noticed that the recruit had changed her clothes. Isaiah and Melani did too, come to think of it. They all look so comfy. Sharline looked down at her work blouse and pencil skirt. Ugh.

She almost didn't hear ZZ's quiet question. "We were talking about nicknames, actually," Sharline turned toward the girl. "What everyone likes to be called. Anyway Melani, for me, 'Sharline' is fine," she looked back to Melani. "I've never really gone by a nickname." She decided to omit her mother's many nicknames for her. Leen, Leener...no way I'm telling them Leenie-Weenie.

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

Unpacking her stuff didn't entail more than throwing the duffelbag at the foot of the bed and crashing down on said bed herself. She could hear Zahari move about on the background, but it interested her little. She just felt so tired. But from what? Jetlag? That could hardly be the case, the flight wasn't that long. Perhaps this place just had it's effects. You'll fight through it. Just bear with it a little longer.

Whether Ren actually fell asleep or not was something she couldn't answer, she only knew that by the time she got back up from the bed, Zahari was gone. Either she's a ninja, or I'm more tired than I thought She got up from the bed and stretched, the uneasy feeling of being in such a confined space was still there. But at least now that Zahari was gone, she could go meet with that pretty princess without anybody asking any questions.

Ever so vigilant she peeked her head out of the door. Luckily no one was there. She heard voices coming from the rec room up ahead. Please, please, please, please, please don't let her be there as well. She feverishly thought as she knocked on Melani's door. But Fate had never seemed to be on her side, and it especially didn't seem to want to seek her out underground. No answer, great... Thats just great. She let her head rest against the door for a while, it felt cool against her skin. The girl was in the rec room with the others, no way Ren would ask her about this there. She didn't like the idea of being seen as one of the weak ones.

Slowly she pulled her head away from the cool door and sluggishly made her way to the rec room with the others. She walked in mid sentence, which made little sense as long as she missed the context. But she wasn't very interested in that. What caught Ren's eyes were the beer bottles. Shows you just how much this isn't military base. If she wasn't capable of getting some genuine medicine from the little doctor over there, she might as well do with some household medicince that goes by the name of alcohol. "Hey, where'd you get those?" asking no one in particular. The fact that the pretty princess was also drinking surprised Ren Guess she isn't such a pristine princess after all. Which by all means, was a compliment towards Melani, no matter how crude.

It seemed that neither room mates were willing to speak at this time, Slavik had observed his room mate's prosthetics and choose not to ask him about how he got them. Secrets and personal details came at their own time, no need to rush out to reopen old wounds.Even as Slavik calmly changed into more 'casual' military fatigues , the man didn't breath a word. Should anyone actually have looked at his personal items, they'd have realized that there was nothing even remotely personal about them. No family photos, no books of his own, his clothing looked too worn, in fact the only thing he have were several medical related items as well as his case for his contact lenses.

Perhaps it was due to their silence that the noise from the rec room was more audible, a slight smile played on Slavik's lips formed before he straightened out. "We should see what the others are doing, after all we don't want to miss any potential information that may help each other to gain an understanding of one another."

With a slight nod, the man followed the source of the noise, taking a cautious look outside this strange hallway, there seemed to be two of them, one more public perhaps this one was to give another escape... or improve this base's policing force chances in ambushing them. Still he couldn't reflect on that right now. Not enough information.Carefully walking to the rec room he found that the group had gathered by the sofas. "Seems pretty comfortable for you all right now. May I join you? " Slavik said with a slight grin taking note of the beer bottles.

“Ah, well...'Doc' is okay, but my friends and family call me 'Melly,' so, um...That'd be okay, too,” she said, first relaxing, then tensing a little bit, a faint flush of color coming to her cheeks as her imagination ran away with her. Perhaps it wouldn't have if Isaiah hadn't relaxed, but the glimpse into the side of him that wasn't completely disapproving of Melani was most definitely fodder. In her head, there was a brief touching moment where her new CO called her by a sweet familiar nickname with uncharacteristic tenderness.

Her brief fantasy was cut short by reality, though, as Sharline replied and ZZ...entered. Melani took a moment to watch the other female officer, pursing her lips as she observed the decreased motor control and lack of balance. Comparing them to the baseline that she'd observed earlier, the medic decided that the other girl was, in fact, intoxicated. Nevertheless, she gave her a bright smile as Zirra came to sit with them, letting Sharline provide the explanation of the goings on.

She got her answer, though, and nodded, still smiling. “I'll try to resist the urge to call you 'Shar,' then,” she said, her tone almost conspiratorial. She looked up, blinking in surprise to find Ren there. She hadn't heard the other woman approach. Her presence wasn't a bad thing, though, and she answered her readily, cocking her head toward the kitchen area. “The fridge. We're talking nicknames,” she said, smiling her greeting to Slavik as he joined their group. “Of course you can! Beer's in the fridge, if you want one. There's juice, too.”

It was getting crowded, and fast. This rec room is starting to look more like – a rec room. Sharline looked at all the recuits gathering. Four, five, six...we're missing someone. The girl ran through the roster in her head. Cole...Engleton...Galia. Kirill Galia. Sure enough, the diminutive lad was nowhere to be seen. As for the newcomers, Ren Ishii seemed like an austere woman, but Pvt. Slavik's show of friendliness was impressive. Sharline was reminded of the earlier instance with Isaiah. It's amazing how human these robotic guys look when they smile. The analyst returned the man's gesture. "Of course, of course. The more the merrier."

Sharline figured she should give the new faces a refresher course. Galia can find out from someone else. "I'm the group's field analyst, by the way. Sharline." She hooked a piece of hair behind her ear; her ballerina bun had become messy with stray locks. "I'll be monitering your tests and practice exercises."

The girl tried to recap the situation, her absentminded gaze falling on Melani. "So...nicknames. Does anyone else prefer one?" she figured she should explain further. "Project Epsilon is privately funded by Celsius, so there's no need for military formalities." What did Melani say again? "Ms. Engleton's first name is 'Melani.' She said that was fine, or Mel–" Sharline cut off. She had an inkling that the jarheads would find "Melly" too cutesy. Well, "Mel" works. "What does everyone else like to be called?"

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

Isaiah smirked when Melani half-heartedly shot down his suggestion. "Isn't part of the fun of a nickname the part where you don't get to decide?" The young sergeant had a sly grin as he spoke, almost as though he were plotting something. The grin faded as he took another swig of his beer, leaning back in his sofa in order to make himself more comfortable as he did. It was then that Slavik made his way into the room, too which Isaiah couldn't help but be thankful for. "Oh good you're here. The estrogen was becoming palpable," he said, stifling a laugh as he did. His attention then turned towards Ren and Zirra. The first was inquiring on where to get alcohol, the latter looked like she had already found too much. "Nice of you two to finally join us," Isaiah sighed, glancing back towards Slavik as he did. "Where the hell is Galia? If he doesn't show up soon I swear he's getting stuck with Maldy as his nickname. I don't care how angry it makes him." The sergeant took one more swig of his beer before turning back towards Melani and Sharline. "I suppose we can finally drop the formalities. You can all just call me Isaiah if you want?" The young sergeant, paused glancing towards Melani as he did. He'd lectured the woman earlier about formalities, thus it was only prudent to give her a bit of special attention here. "That includes you.....Mel."

Ren gave a weak smile back to Melani Might as well start being nice to her if I need her later on. she thought while walking to the fridge. She grabbed 6 bottles, would save the other the constant walking back and forth. That, and six should be enough to fix any illness.

She walked back to the group and placed the bottles on the table, taking one herself. She slouched down in the couch next to the one Isiah is sitting on, drinking down half the bottle in one go. "Aaaaaah, that's just what I needed.... So, nicknames huh? Did I miss anything yet?" Ren didn't have anything against nicknames, as long as they made sense.

"I'll stay sober this round." Slavik said in a rather amused tone, "Just in case, you never know when it's handy. That and admittedly I don't hold my drink too well." The man gave a rueful laugh before sitting down close Sharline and ZZ, he had heard the sergeant question to where Galia was but had not yet replied to it seeing as Galia was entitled to his privacy.

"He'll get here when he's ready Sarge, no need to rush the man really. It's not like this is going to be a short two week course after all." Again his tone was strangely amused somehow but how he held his posture was very different, it was tense as if Slavik was expecting something at any moment. "So what nicknames have you all come up with so far?"

Her breath caught in her throat as her CO showered special attention on her, looking her straight in the face as he made sure that she knew she could call him by his first name. By his first name!

The blush on her cheeks darkened a shade and she quickly took a sip of her frothy glass of beer to give her time to put together some sort of reply that wouldn't sound like a lovesick schoolgirl. He was just being nice. It didn't mean he...liked her.

Or did it?!

"Isaiah," she said finally after she'd swallowed her sip of beer, nodding at the sound of it. Apparently, it passed the test. "Got it." She tried to have a sense of camaraderie in her voice, instead of the lilting giggle that wanted to color her words.

She was almost grateful (almost!) when Ren and Slavik reminded her that other people existed, and she cleared her throat softly, taking another sip of her beer before shaking her head to Ren. "Nothing, really, aside from that."

She gave a little half-shrug to Slavik and wiped at her mouth after another sip of beer. "Other than first names and shortened versions, nothing, really," she said with a smile. "Is there anything we shouldn't call you?"

Isaiah hadn't taken into account the number of squad members who enjoyed beer as much as he did. Thus, after finishing his second beer, the young sergeant made his way back over to the fridge and returned with the remaining two twelve packs. Melani was in another one of her flusters, though over what he hadn't the slightest clue. At this point if he had a nickel for every time Mel acted strange he wouldn't need to be in the military anymore. "This is going nowhere fast if you ask me," he said, plopping back down in his space on the couch before opening yet another beer. "We already have her nickname," Isaiah grunted, motioning towards Melani. "Let's decide one for Slavik, then Ishii, then Zahari, and then Galia if he ever gets here." The young sergeant took another swig of beer as he waited for the others to respond. "Or we can just sit here getting plastered while Slavik watches."

Ren had just finished her first bottle when the new CO, it would take some getting used to that, came back with the remainder of the beer. Now, Ren acts tough, and probably is tough on some levels, mostly the combat ones, but she has the alcohol tolerance of... let's say, an opera singer. Or her mother. At least, that's who she blames for her low tolerance, her mother never did hold her drinks very well. Probably how her father met her.

A fuzzy feeling already spread in her head, just after one bottle. And what'd you know, the claus... clous... that pressing feeling was already falling to the background again. She leaned forward to grab another bottle, determined to beat that feeling. "Not that I don't mind this getting together, but isn't it a bit too early to give each other nicknames?" She looked specifically at Melani, somehow she thought this was all her idea. "Nicknames should come natural, right?" While taking another swig, she thought about what possible nicknames she ever had. None came to mind, well except for one, but she wasn't going to tell them. Which also reminded her, she needed to be careful with the alcohol, lest there be a repeat like last time. Where she incidentally got that nickname...

"In all honesty, Ren will do just fine for me... Or Ms Ishii if you're feeling extra generous." She said with a smile, the bubbles were getting to her head, spreading a pleasant numbness. "And hey, if something happens along the way that warrants me a nickname, I'll wear it with pride." She shrugged nonchalantly, though she really hoped it wouldn't actually come that far. "So what nicknames did we settle on yet? You said you had a few."